Yurika
by Kamui Senketsu
Summary: "There were two kinds of monsters, the kind that hunted the streets and the kind that lived in your head." And it just so happens Yurika knows all about them both. OC centric AU. The only "Ghoul" is the OC. Tokyo Ghoul characters are MOSTLY placed where they're convenient. Things get dark and graphic. (Main character is misunderstood).
1. Prologue

**Okay, so like with my story Himiko, I'm using this to mess around with my writing style. It's to challenge myself since in a few months I'm going to start college. I wanted to see if I could stand writing in something other than past tense more long term.**

**Now, to commence the experiment:**

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"_How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads..."_

—_Bram Stoker_

* * *

All men are not created equal.

This is an irrefutable fact that has been so since man ever decided it was necessary to state.

It is so, because the world is a place where eighty percent of the population has superpowers called Quirks. The leftover twenty percent without Quirks are treated as if they are disabled, constantly reminded of how unremarkable— how _ordinary_ they are in a world of the extraordinary.

Futaba Yurika however, knows that perhaps being "ordinary" would not be so bad in such a world. At least in comparison to other alternatives. Why? Well, that's because even on a planet where superpowers are revered, there is still something about mankind that has not evolved. And this is the inherent fear of things dubbed unusual. And yes, there are things still considered quite unusual in a world full of superpowers. So unusual in fact that they become downright terrifying to all of those who come face to face with them.

And Yurika is one of those things.

All she had to do was be born, and live long enough to become four years old.

She has always been a rather sickly child. In and out of the hospital, missing days upon days of school from unknown health deficiencies that her pediatrician and even specialists can not puzzle out. Her body always seems half starved of something that she is not getting— and so her skin becomes pale, the space beneath her violet eyes perpetually bruised with exhaustion, her black hair falls in pitiful unhealthy curls, and her bones jut out from places that should not be quite so visible.

Well, at least that had been the case. It turns out that Yurika is something called an anomaly. She did not inherit a quirk from her family tree. As her mother is quirkless, and her father's ability has nothing to do with her own from what she's told. No, she has a completely new quirk. A completely new type of mutation that does not mimic any known animal on the planet. And that's what's wrong with her. Why she's been so sick for as long as she can remember, why she nearly sucked her mother dry while still in the womb. Why her body demands an absurd amount of iron that she needs to take pills for every morning and night simply so she can continue living even if it is as a feeble husk.

Yurika has a mutant type quirk, it simply does not show in her physical appearance. (At least until she is in the right circumstances). You see, the reason Yurika has been so feeble is because she _has_ been half starved. The reason she is always still hungry no matter how much she eats is because she hasn't been getting what her body needs.

It took one of her classmates falling down and tearing their knee open for the adults around her to finally understand what Yurika's body has been ravenous for. It took the sclera of her eyes flooding dead black, the glands in her mouth gushing saliva— her mounting the hurt boy and_ sinking her teeth into his flesh_ for them to know that she's not simply a "sickly" child.

No.

Yurika is not sick. She is _hungry_.

So four year old Yurika is whisked away, her mother is called and the woman cries and_ cries_ as they both listen to what the doctors _finally _understand.

Yurika needs to eat human flesh. She will not live to be much older if she does not begin eating flesh more regularly. And it has to be human.

The specialist Yurika has spent a long time with after being taken away explains that her mutant quirk causes her to have an additional two organs that reside near her waist area. These organs are sacs containing strange cells that flow like blood and can become solid like bone. The reason she must feed on human flesh and blood, is because her special cells from her additional organs are what vitalize her body, taking over most of the duties of her metabolism.

These cells require large amounts of iron, sugar, fatty acids, and other things Yurika does not understand quite yet to function correctly. All things found within living humans. Of course Yurika can still ingest normal food to somewhat sustain her as she has been, but there can only be so much of that. And she has reached the peak of simply surviving by the skin of her teeth. Yurika and her mother are notified that she will not live much longer if her body is not given what it needs to function properly.

And so Yurika's existence becomes a series of tests, of fearful looks from passing staff, of crying while the specialist assigned to her case watches her choke down a bloodied lump of _someone_ donated so that she will not wither away and die. Her mother visits her after work everyday that isn't a weekend day for an hour. The little girl is still somewhat lonely.

Currently Yurika lives in a facility in Tokyo for children like her. Children that will not simply be able to get by with the government sanctioned quirk counseling all kids go through. Tokyo: Ko is the facility Yurika attends. It exists so that children with unruly and powerful quirks get the counseling they need, as well as the training that would be required so that they can become functioning members of society in the foreseeable future. Sometimes she wonders about her old classmates. What they think of her. Sometimes she remembers how they screamed when she lept on top of the boy who scraped his knee. How they cried and cowered when she sank her teeth into him. How _he _screamed as his fresh warm blood gushed into her waiting maw.

Yurika wonders if she'll ever be able to act normal again.

The little girl is wearing a white blouse under a black pinafore dress and white knee highs. She's sitting on the sterile white sheets of the bed that her doctor says is "hers". Even though the room has never and probably _will_ never be home, it has become somewhat familiar in the last three months she's been at Tokyo: Ko. She at least likes the multiple butterfly stickers she was allowed to paste onto the walls.

Yurika turns the page of the picture book she's reading. It's called 'The Giving Tree', and she can't quite understand all of the words, but her mother has read the book to her so many times that she doesn't need to. She knows every word by heart.

"Yuri-chan."

Yurika startles at the soft voice coming from behind her cracked door. She recognizes it, and she doesn't disguise the smile that soft tenor brings to her pale, chubby face.

"Fumi-kun!" She squeals, setting her book aside.

Tokoyami Fumikage, the only friend she's made at Tokyo: Ko, steps into her room. He's a boy just as tiny as her, even for children as young as them. He has the head of a blackbird, a yellow beak which is slightly hooked down at the end, and thin, red eyes on either side of his head. Despite this his neck and the rest of him is rather normal human skin and quite fair, (even if not as fair as Yurika). He's wearing a red T-shirt, black shorts, and a pair of red house slippers. Fumikage's room is right next to Yurika's, and sometimes when she hears him crying in the night because his shadow won't stop trying to destroy his nightlights, she knocks against the wall between them. He usually still cries, but he always knocks back, and it makes Yurika happy that he knows he isn't alone.

"It's almost time for lunch." Fumikage says, drawing nearer. He blinks curiously up at her and asks, "What are you doing?"

"I'm reading my favorite book." Yurika says, patting the space beside her invitingly. "Want to see?"

"Okay," He agrees, climbing up onto her bed, shuffling to sit beside her. Their arms press together and Yurika likes how soft and warm his skin is against hers. She doesn't feel lonely when Fumi is with her.

Yurika picks her book back up. She gently flips back to the beginning of the worn green hardcover and starts to tell the story, trying to do it in a way that captivates the way her mother always does. She smiles happily as she does because Fumi leans his head against her shoulder as he listens. They have done this before. Fumikage knows The Giving Tree story almost as well as Yurika does because he listens every time she offers to tell it. But he never complains about it. He always just leans against her and listens. And when they reach the end when the boy in the story becomes a man, having used up all the tree had to give, they tear up.

Because even as two four year old children, they understand the moral of the story. They understand that sometimes you give and give to those you love, and in return they take and take until you have nothing left to give. They have not experienced such things, but Yurika's mother explained why the story is sad, and in turn Yurika told Fumikage.

The story is sad, but it is still Yurika's favorite. She's not quite sure why, but her mother says when she is older she will understand. For now that will simply have to suffice.

Both children perk up when they suddenly hear two robotic chimes overhead, signifying that it's lunch time. It's Sunday, so the children at Tokyo: Ko don't have classes or quirk training/tests. They simply relax in their rooms or in a friends' room until designated meal times.

Yurika frowns as Fumikage slides off of her bed, looking to her with curious red eyes.

"Are you coming Yuri-chan?" He asks.

The violet eyed girl nods, sliding down onto the polished marble floor, following her friend to the door. Meal times are her least favorite thing about Tokyo: Ko, and after them is quirk training/tests.

"Why do you always get sad when we have to eat Yuri-chan?" Fumikage asks, pulling her room door open as he walks out.

Yurika frowns deeper, violet eyes training on her white socked feet as she shuffles along behind the bird headed boy through the buttercream halls. More children that live in the hall of their sector are coming out of their own rooms and making their way to the lunch room. Happy chatter is traded between the young children, and Yurika wishes she could be happy about eating lunch like them.

She can still eat normal food, but it's not enough anymore. If she eats a normal sized meal she gets queasy. She can only enjoy small quantities of food, otherwise it's like gorging herself on wet sand until she's nearly about to burst from within.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Yurika finally mumbles, deciding Fumi deserves an answer because he never pushes her. He's always so patient, and he's such a good friend.

He doesn't know Yurika eats people, and she hopes he never does. If he knew… Yurika wonders if he would tremble at the sight of her like the staff that look after them.

"Well, okay then." Fumikage allows, slowing his stride so he can catch her hand in his.

Yurika looks up. Mournful violet meet tender rose, and she smiles. It's not okay. It never will be, but Yurika is glad that Fumi is her friend. She laces her fingers with his, and he holds back just as assuredly.

The two children make it downstairs towards the lunchroom. Yurika is not surprised to see Dr. Kanou already waiting to the left hand side of the cafeteria's double doors. He is a middle-aged man with tranquil, narrow brown eyes and slicked back grey hair. He wears a white lab coat over a white button down with a black tie, dark slacks, and shiny brown shoes.

Like clockwork Fumikage looks at her and offers a faint smile, one that most people miss and assume is nonexistent.

"I'll see you after lunch Yuri-chan." Fumi says.

"Yeah." Yurika nods, her stomach churning with dread. "See you, Fumi-kun."

The bird boy waves after pulling his hand from Yurika's grasp and walks away, following their peers into the lunchroom. He never asks why Yurika has to eat away from the other kids. He just asks why it makes her so sad, even if he never pushes beyond that when she grows uncomfortable.

"Yurika-chan," Dr. Kanou greets, smiling softly down at the little girl. "Come my child, it's time to get you fed."

Yurika nods, despite how much her stomach threatens to revolt against her at the thought. Even if her mind is repulsed by her needs, Yurika never fails to salivate when her nose catches a whiff of bloodied flesh. And that, that tears her apart _every time._ It's why she cries every time she eats. She can't help it. She can't help liking the taste even though she wishes— _wishes _so persistently that she could be normal.

Dr. Kanou leads her away from the lunchroom, through winding pale yellow sterile and plain halls until he reaches a thick metal door with a tiny rectangular window on it. It is the same room Yurika has been fed in since she arrived at Tokyo: Ko. The rectangular window on the door is actually a slot that slides back and forth from within, and it currently reads "empty".

Dr. Kanou unlocks the door with the key card he keeps on the lanyard around his neck, pressing it against the digital pad on the right side of the door. The pad flashes green, a mechanical _beep _sounds off and the metal door swings open inward. Yurika follows her doctor into the plain white room, and the door shuts behind them. Dr. Kanou takes a moment to slide the door sign to "occupied" before moving on.

The room looks close to a normal hospital room with a bed and machinery on the left side of it. Though it's notably larger than a normal hospital room and it's equipped with a large white refrigerator, and gray cabinets containing things Yurika has never explored. Near the sink counter and cabinets is a square steel table with a single matching chair. This is the place where Yurika sits to eat every time she needs to feed.

Kicking up no fuss, Yurika quietly makes her way to her chair, pulling it out and climbing into it. She scoots closer to the table and folds her hands in her lap, trying to convince herself that they aren't trembling. Dr. Kanou opens the fridge, reaching in and pulling out a brown wrapped package that is slightly larger than the palm of his hand.

Yurika swallows thickly, because she knows what the package is. Dr. Kanou quietly makes his way over, his face still set in that calm, half smile that it's always moulded in. He places the package in the center of the table gently, unblinking.

Yurika hates how he does that. Hates how he places it just far enough so that she has to reach out and pull it closer. She hates how without fail she reaches out and drags the package closer, feeling the squishy load within slightly give way beneath her grasp.

She hates how Dr. Kanou doesn't turn away as she peels away the white tape keeping the brown paper closed. Hates how a decadent, sweet, _mouthwatering _scent curls up and caresses her senses as the paper unfolds. Yurika's bottom lip trembles, and her eyes sting, vision blurring as tears flood her irises and pour down her chubby face.

She knows what she has to do is horrible. She knows because only monsters eat people. Why else would parents tell stories about the boogeyman who will eat them if they're bad? Why else do other kids say vampires are gross? It's because things that need to feed on others to survive are detestable. They are unnatural. Monstrous.

"Come now Yurika-chan." Dr. Kanou chides, shaking his head as his still brown eyes study her. "You do this every time we come here. You know you need to eat, otherwise you'll become sick again."

Yurika shakes her head, her sparkling tears peppering the slick red surface of the steak-cut slab of _human being _sitting before her. She knows that. She knows she's still pale, but otherwise she is healthier than she has ever been. You can no longer see her ribs and hipbones, see her joints working as she moves slowly. She is energized and strong. Stronger than any four year old has any right to be without a strength augmentation quirk.

But the price of living with a body that does not constantly threaten to break down on her… Yurika simply can not bring herself to bear it without crying.

Dr. Kanou sighs, sliding his weathered hands into the pockets of his lab coat as he looks at her.

"Will it help if I turn away?" He offers. "I know it makes you uncomfortable for me to watch."

Throat closed and nose runny, Yurika sniffles as the tears continue to trickle down her round cheeks.

"Please," She croaks, unable to make eye contact with him any longer.

"Very well Yurika-chan." The doctor allows. "I've studied your eating patterns enough these past few months either way, so I will give you some privacy. Just let me know when you're finished alright?"

Yurika can't bring herself to speak anymore, and she hates how her stomach rumbles in anger at her as her nose continuously notes how good her new meal smells. Thankfully though Dr. Kanou doesn't say anything else. He simply offers her that small little smile before walking away. After a few moments Yurika hears the door chime again, then an audible click, and she knows she's alone.

The little black haired girl's eyes fall across the raw meat in front of her. She bites her lip, clasping her trembling hands in front of her chest. It smells good. She knows it'll even taste good. Unwillingly Yurika thinks back to biting that boy from her old primary school. How warm and _delicious _his blood was.

Yurika knows that was the best meat she will ever have. She knows it is because that meat had been _fresh._

"No!" She sobs, shaking her head, healthy curls bouncing back and forth from the frantic movement. "No, I won't ever think about hurting someone like that again!"

What would Fumi-kun think if he knew? Her mother? God, her mother had cried so hard when the doctors told her what a freak Yurika is.

Her stomach rumbles again, voracious and echoing. She's reminded again of how much things are not her choice. That her body craves what her morals find egregious.

Yurika unclasps her hands, and she places her pale little fingers on top of the bloody red meat. Her fingertips sink into the near malleable surface of the sliced flesh. It's chilled, causing a shiver to run up her arms and skitter down her back. The fluids soaked into the flesh's mass is tacky, some of it somewhat thin and running off the sides. Yurika lifts the steak-cut up, dragging it closer as she ducks her head. Rosy lips part and the child sinks her teeth into the flesh, a loud squelch sounding off as ice cold red spills into her waiting mouth.

Yurika's teeth look similar to a normal person's, but they are actually made to rend flesh that much easier than anyone else. So it doesn't take any effort on her part to pull a mouthful of meat away from her current meal. Scarlet trickles down either side of her chewing mouth, the sweet, salted taste of liquid copper is heavy on her tongue. She swallows, a slick lump sliding down her throat.

Tears pour out of Yurika's eyes as she takes another bite.

* * *

**A/N: **

**Okay, so I'm well aware of how ghoul physiology works in the world of Tokyo Ghoul, but I decided that it was way too cruel even for me to have Yurika not be able to enjoy human cuisine, even if her body can not survive without human flesh. So I decided she'll be like a mix between a normal Ghoul and a Quinx. So she **_**has**_** to eat humans, but her tongue isn't so different from a normal human's that all normal food (save for coffee) is repulsive to her. She also does not produce enzymes that the Ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul do, that make them unable to digest human food.**


	2. Come now, smile

**I don't own My Hero Academia, Tokyo Ghoul, or the Hearse Song.**

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"_You're never fully dressed without a smile."_

—_Martin Charnin_

* * *

The room around her is cold metal walls without even a discernible door, though she knows it's there, hidden amongst the panels across the walls' surfaces. Above there are long, rectangular overhead lights that beam down on her, making her feel exposed. And she is exposed.

She's not wearing a stitch of clothing, and she's on her knees, forehead pressed into the blue spongy matting making up the floor.

She can hear her pulse thundering in her ears as it races like a panicked hummingbird in her chest.

He'd said it wouldn't hurt.

He always says that, though.

But to an extent he isn't a liar, because it never hurts _at first. _It's always so quick it doesn't even register until several seconds have ticked by, and then—

Her body _screams._

Currently she's holding her wrists close to her abdomen, smearing fresh liquid crimson across her pale belly because _she doesn't have any hands._

He cut them off.

He always cuts off something during this type of training, and no matter how much it happens she can never not scream when she realizes he's shaved or lopped something off of her.

Her eyes are squeezed shut because the tears won't stop. There's snot on her lips, salty and runny; and there's blood steadily gushing from her wounds onto the mats as she kneels, trembling.

She knows the next time they come to this room the blood will not be there, as if it has never been spilled.

"Come now Yurika-chan." A soothing voice comes from above.

The small child shakily peers up through the mussed hair in front of her face, chin pressing into the mats. Dr. Kanou stands above her, his calm brown eyes cast in shadow as that tiny, always present smile lifts the corners of his lips. His hands are folded neatly behind his back, and Yurika feels fresh tears well up and pour down her face at the sight.

He's always so unruffled, always smiling even in the face of her torment that he says is quirk training.

It seems from all angles all her quirk can do is bring misery. Even in the face of trying to master it and learning all of its limits, Yurika despairs.

"If you just lay there and cry again you will pass out from blood loss and your hands will regenerate much more slowly and painfully from exhaustion." Dr. Kanou chides easily. "If you don't want to experience that again as you did with your legs then I suggest you activate your quirk and heal yourself."

Yurika shudders, remembering the week before last when they were "testing the lengths of her regeneration". That day the doctor had sliced off her legs, commanding her to reattach them. Yurika had been sobbing so violently that the two severed parts of her thighs and her stumps would not catch and reattach. Eventually she had tired herself out and lost consciousness, waking up several hours later in the medical ward of Tokyo: Ko. From there she found bones extending from her stumps, muscle tissue and tendons slowly creeping across the milky surface of the newly developed limbs.

Yurika had immediately started wailing.

She could feel every inch of the muscle tissue stretching and growing to cover her visible bones. It had been agonizing.

Yurika's lips tremble as she presses them together, snot trickling over them as warm tears part fresh tracks down her colorless cheeks. Dr. Kanou's expression remains exactly the same as it always does. He has said already what he intended to express, and Yurika has already found that she is better off heeding his words. Not because he will do something to her, but because he never lies. He's given his advice, and whether or not Yurika heeds it is always up to her.

She has learned that though it is up to her, she should really just do what the doctor says. So the child slowly, shakily lifts her chin from the matting, and then her torso, violet eyes dropping as she brings her wrists up to her face.

During the times where she was tested on her regeneration factor, Yurika has learned quite a few things alongside Dr. Kanou.

**1.** _She can almost instantly close small wounds like cuts._

**2.** _She can completely regrow things that have been lost if she's been recently fed between one and five minutes._

**3.** _She can reattach things that have been cleanly cut off. If the wound is agitated or sloppy it will take a little longer to mend frayed edges._

**4.** _The smaller the injury she has to completely grow an appendage for, say a finger for example, the faster the regeneration._

**5.**_ If she has not eaten and she has to completely regenerate a limb, the process is incredibly slow and agonizing._

First the regeneration testing started out with healing small cuts all over, then she had to regrow things like ripped off fingernails and toenails. After Dr. Kanou was satisfied with testing those limits they moved on to reattachment. That started with reattaching her ears, her fingers, and her toes. Yurika has already mastered reattaching these things, including her hands, her arms to her shoulders, and her feet to her ankles. Most recently she had to reattach her legs, which she failed at after panicking, having never seen so much blood.

This week Dr. Kanou told her he'd put the mastering of reattaching her legs on hold, instead commanding her to begin completely regrowing her hands. So he'd cut them off, took them away, and told the four year old to make new ones.

They know she can make new hands because her body has already been forced to make new legs after she failed to reattach her old ones two weeks ago.

So here Yurika is, face to face with two bloodied stumps, rivers of red streaking down her arms. The little girl drags in a shuddering breath, reaching inside of herself, feeling something just beneath the surface of her naked back squirm. The skin there twists, distorts like a snake is trapped beyond her flesh.

That something wants to burst out— protect her from the physical agony she's been in for the last few minutes. Yurika knows her eyes have long since shifted to the strange red and black version they do when she's in pain, excited, or hungry. Dr. Kanou hasn't come up with a name for the way her eyes change yet, or the strange things in her back that want to _hunt. _But he assures Yurika he will after studying these things more in depth.

"That's it Yurika-chan." Dr. Kanou urges. "Reach into your quirk, and pull out those hands you need."

Yurika's teeth are bared as she struggles, her back writhes more, but she doesn't focus too hard on that. The child whines when she feels an itch in her wounds. Geysers of blood suddenly spew up, splattering across her bare chest and painting the mats even more. And then... strange creaking noises start up.

Yurika's pulse begins fluttering again, sweat beading along her hairline as she feels new bones begin to peak through her agitated amputations. It feels like someone has shoved their fingers into the area and is slowly pulling it apart to give way to something else.

Yurika knows that's her new bones pushing through her flesh, attempting to replace what Dr. Kanou has taken away.

The child whimpers, squeezing her eyes shut again when she feels something break through the slabs of meat that should be her hands.

"Well done Yurika-chan." Dr. Kanou says. "You're already halfway there, young lady."

Breathing heavily now, Yurika pants as her eyes flutter open, finding two skinless hands slicked with familiar red in front of her face. Her nose wrinkles at the grotesque contrast between the muscles and tendons making up her new hands fusing to her normal, bloodied skin.

But at least she has hands again. A small flush of relief sweeps through the little girl, and she wiggles her skinless fingers, a little disgusted by the resulting squelching noises.

Violet eyes flit up to meet serene brown, and the gray haired doctor inclines his head, still smiling.

"When you've regenerated your skin, we can conclude your testing for the day." He says. Dr. Kanou uses really big words, but he's patient and always explains when Yurika looks confused. She's learned a lot of words working with him. Though, she may not be able to repeat them perfectly. "We'll go back to keeping your predatory organs within you and keeping your eyes normal when put under various forms of emotional stimulus. But remember after next week's testing we'll come back to regeneration testing. We must study and document every aspect of your quirk, young Yurika-chan."

Yurika swallows thickly, nodding even as she feels brand new milky skin creeping along her exposed musculature.

"O-okay." She whispers.

That's how her quirk training/testing always goes. One week they work on her control of keeping herself in check, remaining calm and not flying off the handle. The next they test the limits of her regeneration. They've already tested the limits of her hunger. She can not go longer than three weeks without becoming violently ravenous. Dr. Kanou says after Yurika learns how to keep her quirk suppressed and herself in "human form", he will begin testing the limits of her predatory organs.

Her predatory organs are the strange things in her back that hold the cells that keep her entire body functioning. Dr. Kanou is the one who classified them as such.

Sometimes Yurika wonders about the strange things that writhe beneath her skin. She's only seen them a handful of times, when they've burst out because there is something Yurika absolutely cannot bear, so they attempt to defend her, or _feed _her. The first time Dr. Kanou tore off one of her fingernails was one of those times.

Dr. Kanou has a long pink scar stretching across the width of his chest beneath his uniform to show for this experience.

"Come along now Yurika-chan." Dr. Kanou intructs, already turned away and walking towards one of the panels in the metal walling. "Let's get you hosed off and ready for lunch time. You must be famished."

Yurika blinks, finding that yes— her stomach is almost painfully void at the moment. It rumbles in interest and the small child slaps her newly healed palms against the firm matting on the floor. Shakily, Yurika pushes herself up on weakened knees. She always feels a little disoriented after big heals.

Her new hands are free of blood, but her arms are covered in it. There are splatters across her abdomen, and sprinkles on her chin as well as on the flooring. Even so, it isn't as much as it was when Yurika's legs had been severed.

She does not miss the sight.

Yurika tiptoes around the blood puddles on the floor and stumbles after Dr. Kanou, somewhat placated that testing is over for now. She ignores the long table near the door that holds all the tools Dr. Kanou uses to study her regeneration.

The calm doctor pulls a key card from the lanyard around his neck, pressing it against a well hidden scanner on the wall, opening up a segment of said slab of metal. It slowly slides open like an elevator door, and the two make their way into a white sterile hall with equally stark lighting. At the end of the narrow hall is a steel door with a small rectangular window. Dr. Kanou unlocks this door as well, and it leads to another white area, only this is almost like a bathroom. It's made up of tile, and there's a large silver drain in the center of the floor. Mounted to the left side of the room's wall is a shower head that doubles as a hose. Dr. Kanou heads over to retrieve it. Already knowing what's going on, Yurika shuffles over to the center of the tiled room. The little bloodied girl stands on top of the room's drain, waiting patiently.

Dr. Kanou turns the water on, extending his arm solemnly to hose the blood off of the four year old. Yurika cringes a little as ice cold water sprays across her form, chilling her down to her bones.

"Too cold?" Dr. Kanou wonders.

"Y-yes." Yurika chatters, shivering as she shakily extends her arms to have them hosed off.

"My mistake, I'll fix that right up Yurika-chan." The doctor says, turning for a moment to adjust the water's temperature.

When the spray returns Yurika is pleased to find it's mostly warm, and the congealing blood slicking up her arms and splattered across her front runs easier off of her pale skin. Muted red and ribbons of watered down pink swirls down the drain in the floor. After a bit more Yurika is sufficiently cleaned off until she's required to take a real bath just before dinner time later in the day.

"Come along." Dr. Kanou says after re-mounting the shower head to the wall.

He leads the little girl to the exit door opposite of the one they entered. Outside is a gray hallway with many doors on either side, probably holding similar training rooms to the one that Yurika usually uses with Dr. Kanou.

As usual, there's a metal cart next to the door after training, and it's stocked up with clean fluffy towels and child sized hospital scrubs.

"Thank you." Yurika murmurs, accepting the soft yellow towel her doctor hands her, drying herself off before she can make more of a mess on the marble floor.

After she's dry she hands him back the towel and the specialist places it into the small basket for already soiled towels on the bottom of the cart. Next he hands Yurika a pair of buttercream hospital scrubs that are a little baggy on her, but will definitely do.

They both pause, hearing two robotic chimes overhead signifying that it's lunch time. Barefoot but wearing a shirt and pants the little girl follows quietly behind her assigned Quirk Specialist as he silently turns and begins walking down the gray halls.

When Dr. Kanou leads her from the greyscale halls into more inviting pale yellow halls Yurika knows it's almost time for her next meal. The duo stops in front of a familiar steel door with a window slot reading "empty" on the front of it.

Dr. Kanou unlocks the door with his key card, pressing it against the digital pad on the right side of the door. The pad flashes green, a mechanical _beep _sounds off as the metal door swings open inward. Yurika follows her doctor into the plain white room, and the door shuts behind them. Dr. Kanou takes a moment to slide the door sign to "occupied" before making his way towards the kitchen area.

Yurika pads into the room and up to the square steel table with a single matching chair that has become so familiar to her during her time at Tokyo: Ko. She pulls the chair out and climbs into it, scooting closer to the table. She waits patiently as her doctor washes his hands at the sink. When he's finished he dries his hands off with a paper towel from the roll on the countertop, and then moves toward the bone white refrigerator.

Dr. Kanou retrevies a neatly wrapped brown package from the fridge, and softly places it in the center of the table. Violet eyes sweep low as Yurika reaches out and drags the package closer.

"Yurika-chan."

The little girl hesitantly meets still brown eyes. Unease rises up within her stomach, skittering across her limbs and sending a shiver down the arch of her back, the fine hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Sometimes, even though Dr. Kanou never changes expression or his tone of voice, he just does this to Yurika. She can't explain why because he's always the same, no matter what is happening… but he just unsettles her every once in a while.

"Soon your mother will be here to see you." The doctor smiles. "It is around the time she's off work after all. Remember our rule okay?"

"Don't tell Mama about our re-gen-eration tests." Yurika mumbles, nodding. "Or anybody else."

Yurika doesn't understand why, but Dr. Kanou says she can only talk with her mother about the training they do to keep her predatory organs inside and her eyes normal, as well as trying not to react to the scent of other people's blood. She can _not_ talk about her other quirk testing. Dr. Kanou says if Yurika tells Mama or _anyone_ about getting her body parts cut off by him that he won't be able to help Yurika control her quirk anymore, and then she'll be a danger to herself and everyone around her. So naturally it has to stay their secret. She doesn't understand how that makes sense, but Dr. Kanou never tells her anything that isn't later proven to be true. Plus, Yurika doesn't want to hurt anyone again. She hurt that boy at primary all those months ago, and she hurt Dr. Kanou when he removed her fingernail that first time.

Yurika knows Dr. Kanou only hurts her to help her. So that she can act like a normal little girl later in her life, and will be able to go home to her Mama again. So she will continue to cry but persevere, and the regeneration tests will remain their secret.

"Yes, that's right Yurika-chan." Dr. Kanou chuckles softly. "You are a good test subject young lady. Soon you will be able to control your quirk, and we'll know _everything _about it."

"Then I'll be able to go home to Mama?" Yurika asks, blinking her doe eyes at him as her head falls to the side.

Dr. Kanou's eyes crinkle at the corners and his small smile remains.

"Yes. Of course Yurika-chan."

* * *

After her lunch Yurika brushes her teeth and washes her hands. After that Dr. Kanou sends her off to her room.

Yurika re-dresses herself in a white blouse, a black tutu, knee high white socks and black mary janes. After running a brush through her curls that bounce healthily in place around her shoulders, she's ready to meet her mother.

The little girl leaves her room and heads to the sector of Tokyo: Ko where the public is allowed. There's a lobby, visiting rooms, and bathrooms in this part of the facility. Dr. Kanou said after she was dressed her Mama would be waiting in meeting room two. Yurika can count to thirty already so she knows she'll find it all by herself.

At first Dr. Kanou escorted Yurika to and from her meetings with her mother, but as the four year old got accustomed to the facility's layout, she no longer needed him to do such things. Should Yurika's mother have questions for her daughter's designated specialist, she has his number and email. That way, the meeting time of mother and daughter can be spent without talk of treatment and testings and such.

A small skip in her step, Yurika hurries to meeting room two. Before the child is an inviting wooden door in a baby blue hallway with multi-colored bubble stickers telling the public what room it is. A delighted smile is already lifting Yurika's lips and lighting up her round face as she twists the knob and pushes the door open.

Meeting room two has soft blue walls and farm animal stickers all over the place. There is a green love seat pushed against the wall across from the door, a small table with construction paper and art supplies on it centering the area, and a pile of toys in a huge open bin on the left side of the room. On the right is a small cart with water, plastic cups, and a few packs of animal crackers and string cheese.

None of these things matter to Yurika though because on that mint green loveseat is a familiar face.

Tsubaki Futaba is a woman with the same pale complexion as her daughter. She has black hair just as curly as her child's, parted down the middle and cut to fall just passed her jawline. Her big lilac eyes are framed by thick black lashes, and she has a beauty mark at the corner of her right eye. The mother's temperament is soft and soothing.

Tsubaki still wears her work clothes, a white button down, black blazer, and a long black pencil skirt. On her feet are black pumps, and at her side on the couch is a well used leather briefcase.

"Mama!" Yurika squeals, rushing into the room. Tsubaki lights up at the sight of her daughter, pink painted lips stretching into a grin.

"Yuri-chan!" Tsubaki calls, opening her arms. "I've missed you baby."

Giggling, Yurika shoots around the art table and flings herself into her mother's waiting arms, giddiness bubbling through her tiny form as Tsubaki hugs her back. The little girl snuggles closer to her mother's bosom, humming contentedly into the woman's warmth as a loving kiss is pressed into the top of her head. Tsubaki pulls away.

"Yuri-chan, why is your hair damp?" The young mother asks.

"Damp?" Yurika echoes, pulling away to look up at her mother.

"Slightly wet." Tsubaki explains gently, tucking a stray curl behind her daughter's little ear.

"Oh!" Yurika chirps. "I just finished quirk training with Dr. Kanou. He hosed me off 'cause I was all sticky."

Tsubaki wrinkles her nose in distaste.

"You were that sweaty? He should've given you a real bath." The mother huffs. "You'd think with how much they charge for lodging the people here would take better care of people's children."

"Silly Mama." Yurika giggles, shaking her head. "Bath time is before dinner, that's why Dr. Kanou used the water hose."

"Hmph. I suppose." Tsubaki allows, rearranging her daughter more comfortably in her lap. "What did you do for training today?"

"It's a secret Mama." Yurika says, poking her mother in the tummy. "I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Tsubaki asks. "You know you can tell me anything baby. Besides, how can I take care of you if you keep secrets?"

"We're just learning more about my quirk." Yurika says, pouting up at her mother. "Besides, I don't wanna talk about my quirk Mama, I wanna do something fun."

"Well… alright." Tsubaki murmurs, hugging her daughter a little. "I can just ask Dr. Kanou for details later."

"Yay!" Yurika cheers, looking up at her mother with shimmering violet eyes. "Can you tell me a story Mama? A scary one?"

"You want another scary one?" Tsubaki blinks, surprised. "I told you a scary one last time and the time before that. I knew I should've never told you that story about those old yokai."

"I like scary ones." Yurika says, pouting. "Can you tell me another one? Please?"

"Oh, alright." Tsubaki concedes. "I don't want to give you nightmares though..."

"It's not real Mama. I'm not scared." The little girl promises.

"My little tough girl huh?" Tsubaki chuckles. "Alright then. But how about something a little different? I learned a scary song when I was still in middle school. It's something that the Europeans came up with."

"Euro-what?" Yurika wonders.

"Europeans darling." Tsubaki chuckles, shaking her head. "Like how we're Asian, but come from Japan. These people come from a different part of the world. Europe."

"Ohhhh." Yurika nods along. "Okay! You can tell me their scary song. It comes from so far away... now I wanna hear it."

"Okay, let me see… how did that song go again…?" The young mother murmurs, perking up momentarily. "Oh! I remember now…"

Yurika excitedly squirms in her mother's lap, and Tsubaki begins to sing in a soft voice, taking on a cheerful tone. Yurika loves her Mama's singing voice.

"_Don't you ever laugh as the hearse goes by,_

_For you may be the next to die._

_They wrap you up in a big white sheet_

_From your head down to your feet."_

"What's a hearse Mama?" Yurika whispers, curious.

"A long car that people use to drive around coffins." Her mother explains. "Coffins are like beds for people that have died. It's where you put them so they can sleep peacefully forever."

"Ohhhh…"

The lilac eyed mother simply smiles indulgently and continues to sing.

"_They put you in a big black box, _

_And cover you up with dirt and rocks._

_All goes well for about a week,_

_Then your coffin begins to leak._

_The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,_

_The worms play pinochle in your snout._

_They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,_

_They eat the jelly between your toes!"_

"Ewww!" Yurika cries.

Laughing, Tsubaki tickles her daughter a little, continuing to sing in a tinkling, amused voice.

"_A big green worm with rolling eyes_

_Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes._

_Your stomach turns a slimy green,_

_And pus pours out like whipping cream._

_You spread it on a slice of bread,_

_And that's what you eat when you are dead."_

"That's gross Mama!" Yurika laughs, pushing her mother's face away.

"Aww, but you wanted to hear something scary." Tsubaki teases, pulling her baby closer and peppering her chubby face with kisses. This only serves to have Yurika shrieking with laughter and squirming in her arms.

"I wanted somethin' scary, not gross!" She huffs between her giggles.

"Same thing right?" Tsubaki smiles, finally letting up.

"No! It's not." Yurika pants, sitting up and snuggling into her mother's side.

"Oh?" Tsubaki cocks a brow at the four year old. "And how do you know that miss smarty pants?"

"Broccoli is gross but it's not scary." Yurika sniffs haughtily.

"Oh my, you're right." Tsubaki says, lifting a dainty hand to her smiling mouth, unable to help her chuckles.

"I'm smart Mama." Yurika puffs up, grinning proudly.

"Yes you are." Her mother coos, cupping the child's cheeks so she can tilt her head up and press a kiss to her baby's forehead.

Pride flushes through Yurika as her cheeks warm with a soft pink. She loves her mother so much. She likes it when her Mama is just like this. Not crying because Yurika is a freak.

Before they found she is a monster Tsubaki used to cry because Yurika was feeble and always sick. It's nice to see her mother laughing. It's nice to be hugged without her mother fearing she'll break her. It's nice to be told stories and to have songs sung to her because it's what she's asked for, not because she's too sick to get out of bed and play normally.

"Mama can you tell me a story?" Yurika asks. "A real one? No more gross songs."

"Okay Yuri-chan." Tsubaki agrees, a doting smile on her face. "How about one from the new book I got you? I noticed you seemed interested in yokai, so I bought you a picture book about them on my way here."

"You got me a new book!" Yurika gasps, shooting up and gaping at her mother. "How come you didn't say so?"

"I just did." Tsubaki laughs.

"That's not it!" Yurika huffs, pouting. "Silly Mama."

"Alright alright." Tsubaki soothes, reaching for her briefcase. "Forgive me Yuri-chan I'm only teasing you."

"Hmph!" Yurika turns her nose up, but she's not upset at all.

She's actually very happy.

* * *

After an hour of visiting time Yurika bids her mother goodbye.

It's Friday, so she'll not be able to see her Mama until Monday afternoon. An apprehensive staff member makes sure Yurika gets back to her room to do as she pleases until dinner time. The violet eyed girl isn't sure what to make of the way the woman gives her a wide berth and hightails it out of her vicinity as soon as possible.

Shaking away the experience as best she can, Yurika decides she wants to look at her new picture book. It's a vibrant green color with lots of yellow cartoon eyes on the front, and it reads in dripping black font: **10 Spooky Yokai**.

There's ten stories about ten different kinds of yokai and Yurika is excited to read about them all.

At first her mother was skeptical about her being interested in scary things, considering her quirk, but Yurika is fascinated by storybook monsters. It is nice to compare herself to them to see she isn't _all _bad. And sometimes the stories are just weird, and sometimes weird is fun for some reason. She especially likes stories about monsters who can't help being monsters, and are nice.

In her room, surrounded by butterfly stickers Yurika lounges on her bed, hands cradling her cheeks as she blinks down at her newly opened book, elbows sinking into the soft linen. She perks up at a soft knock at her door.

Turning, her doe eyes sparkle at who stands in her doorway.

"Fumi-kun!"

"Hi Yuri-chan." The bird headed boy greets. "You look happy."

"My Mama got me a new book!" She proclaims proudly. "It's about yokai! Wanna see?"

"Mm." He hums, shuffling further into the room.

Yurika easily scooches over on her tummy so her friend can lay down beside her comfortably. Little hands cradling his beak, Fumikage's red eyes meet her's.

"What's a yokai?" He blinks.

"Mama says yokai are all different types of ghosts. There's a _lot _of them, an' my new book shows us ten really cool ones." Yurika explains, excited.

"I can't wait to see." Fumikage demurs, pausing to let his eyes sweep low as he murmurs shamefully, "I wish my parents would come see me as much as your Kaa-san does."

"Fumi-kun," Yurika says sadly. She wishes she could make her friend feel better. He's expressed before how he doesn't see his Mama and Papa that often. They don't really like his quirk that much. The little boy shakes his head, and then looks back to Yurika, a small smile lifting the corners of his beak.

"It's okay Yuri-chan." He assures. "I'm happy you're my friend."

Yurika beams at her best friend in the whole wide world and chirps, "Me too! Now let's look at my book!"

And so they do.

* * *

On Monday after lunch Dr. Kanou comes back into the room after Yurika notifies him she's finished eating.

He disposes of the brown paper that held her meal and goes to the sink to wash his hands. Quirk training and testing is mild because it's the week for them to help Yurika in suppressing the more instinctual responses of her mutation. Because she's more mentally settled she's in a more curious mood, and she knows Dr. Kanou doesn't lie and is always patient.

And there just happens to be something she's been curious about for quite some time.

"Dr. Kanou?" Yurika asks, accepting the wet wipe the man hands her with a small 'thank you'.

"Yes?" He replies, watching her clean her mouth off with it.

"How come you're always smiling?" She blurts, allowing her hands to fall to her sides limply, staring up at him wide eyed with a bloodied crumpled wet wipe in one of her hands.

"My, I can't say I was expecting that." He admits easily. "But you know Yurika-chan, I could just as easily ask you why you are always crying."

"I'm not always crying!" She protests immediately.

"No?" He tilts his head, that absent smile on his face. "Your eyelashes are still wet from your most recent meal. You're not saying you don't cry every time you eat are you? Certainly that would be untruthful."

Yurika blushes up to her ears, dropping her gaze to the man's loafers in shame. It's true. She used to sob loudly and choke down every delicious bite but in more recent times the tears simply silently trickle out of her, drying up when her meal is finished.

"Come now Yurika-chan," He says. "No need to be that way. What I'm saying is that it's just as easy for me to smile as it is for you to cry. You are a happy girl when things are not making you sad. I am as I am and so I am always smiling."

Yurika looks back up at the doctor, frowning. That… she doesn't really understand what he means by that. How those things connect. Seeming to sense this, the doctor folds his hands behind his back. But he doesn't explain himself further, which is unusual for him.

"How about this, Yurika-chan." Dr. Kanou begins. "You try smiling as I do. It doesn't have to be big, and even when you don't want to or nothing is making you happy, smile. You'll find things can go much easier for you this way."

"But what if I'm really _really _sad? Or mad? Or just _not_ happy?" She blinks innocently.

"Even then. Make yourself smile." Dr. Kanou says. "I've become so used to smiling that I am never ready for the day when I'm not doing it. But because I do it many things are easy for me. I'm told by others when they smile even when they're not happy they find what's upsetting them isn't so bad anymore."

"Really?" Yurika breathes, intrigued. Is that really true? Can smiling while eating or doing regeneration testing make those times less unbearable for her? But who is she kidding? Dr. Kanou never lies. He _has _to be telling the truth.

"Don't be hasty." He chides airily. "You'll have to work on perfecting your smile just like your quirk training. But I guarantee when you master smiling at all times, no one will know how you really feel. Sometimes… including yourself."

Awed, Yurika clenches her fists and nods, drive suddenly swelling up within her tiny being. That sounds cool, and useful! Does that mean she can trick herself when she is sad so she isn't sad anymore simply by becoming good at smiling all the time? Wow! How come Mama never told her about this?

"I see you've made your decision." The specialist observes, eyes creasing deeply at the corners. "How interesting."

Dr. Kanou is always helping her. Yurika doesn't know what she would do if someone who is afraid of her quirk was her assigned specialist.

So for now, Yurika smiles genuinely.

She's just learned something wonderful.

* * *

**I remember in elementary school at the book fair I'd gotten scholastic's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (which I still have). And I'd sing the Hearse Song to creep out my friends, and I'd read them stories at recess so I could jump scare them lol.**

**I really am getting old aren't I? *sighs***


End file.
